Taking a bite out of education...

Tuesday I returned to the wonderful world of secondary educating with a bevy of "helpful" workshops designed to kickstart hundreds of teachers into didactic action! Most workshops are fairly boring as they leave very little time for teachers to work in their classrooms or do collaborative work with each other. Yesterday's workshop was different. Via webcam we were treated to a speech/demonstration of how and why to use Apple technology in our classrooms and schools. The presentation was equal parts "Let's show old teachers that being old is dangerous" and "If you don't adopt this technology, China will rule the world with a giant robot fist". Anyway, it was interesting in that it inspired me to take action with technology in my classroom, even if none of us have been properly trained. Blogging, iPods, facebook, and dozens of other things I had never heard of (folksomony? googlejockeying?) are not tools for education anymore. They are supposedly parts of the ubiquitous environment anyone born after 1982 is easily comfortable within. Regardless, I came away with some killer diller ideas I will try this year using blogs and podcasting. Maybe they'll bomb. Maybe they'll succeed. I have to try something new and lord knows these kids might be left behind otherwise. I wonder what Auntie Mary Lou would say about that.... -C.L.